When Superior residents go to the polls next month, those wishing to vote no on Ballot Issue 6A — allowing the Rocky Mountain Fire Protection District to raise its mill levy when the residential assessment rate is lowered, otherwise known as "de-Gallagherization" — will do so with town leadership's blessing.

With a split vote and after an often contentious discussion Monday evening, the Superior Board of Trustees sanctioned a resolution urging residents to reject the ballot issue, citing the vagueness and flawed nature of a proposal that also would allow the district's mill levy to fall back if the assessment rate (the percent of property value that is subject to taxation) were to rise.

The final tally was 4-1. Mayor Clint Folsom offered the sole "no" vote on the resolution, while Trustee Mark Lacis, whose law firm represents the fire district, recused himself for the discussion and ensuing vote.

Folsom's dissent was not only aimed at the resolution itself, which at various times during the meeting he indicated he had no real issue with, but rather the process behind the proposal, which he said he had not been privy to until recently.

"My objection to this resolution is the process by which we have arrived at it tonight," he said. "I found out about (the resolution's existence) while it was in process, and that's not OK. If this board is not on the same page with it, then our community can't be clear on it."

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Talk of whether to only pass resolution if there was unanimous approval was stymied by town policy — and the proclamation had already passed when officials raised the issue again.

"The reason I sponsored this resolution is very simple," said Trustee Kevin Ryan, who coauthored the resolution with Trustee Sandie Hammerly. "I think the ballot language is tragically flawed."

Adding to that sentiment, Trustee Sandy Pennington said that even if the language were clearer, the spirit of the ballot issue was flawed.

"Even if this ballot language was perfectly written and perfectly clear, I would say this is a huge misapplication of Gallagher; but it's pretty unclear — almost incomprehensible," she said.

"This is basically giving the PIN code to your account to anyone who wants it, so I simply can't stand for this."

A mood of contention around the issue permeated prior to the vote during a work session earlier in the evening, in which Rocky Mountain Fire officials presented their budget concerns and expressed the need for 6A to pass, touting it as a solution to the instability of revenue caused by the Gallagher Amendment.

Enacted in 1982, the amendment to the state Constitution dictates residential properties make up no more than 45 percent of the total state property tax base, with the other 55 percent coming from commercial properties.

While rising home values in tax districts such as Rocky Mountain Fire have neutralized revenue loss caused by assessment rate reductions, local fire officials have said they need revenue they would be able to otherwise collect to service populations that are growing at an unprecedented rate.

According to Rocky Mountain Fire's Monday presentation, if the residential assessment rate drops to 6.11 in 2019, the district in 2020 will need to budget for an approximate $950,000 decline in revenue.

If that occurs, according to Suzanne DeVenny, Rocky Mountain Fire secretary/treasurer, the district would not be able to put a third ambulance into service or train certain crew members, which she stated were among a slew of other detriments to the town.

"So why ask to float a mill levy," she asked trustees. "It certainly wasn't to create this acrimony. We asked because the mill levy is the only part of the equation that Rocky Mountain can change if voters approve it. If 6A fails (in November) we may be coming back to the voters as soon as 2022, and there's nothing good about that."

Trustee Chris Hansen said Monday that he took it as a "threat that (Rocky Mountain Fire) is going to decrease training or eliminate (training)," if the ballot issue did not pass.

Rocky Mountain Fire Protection District's service area covers a 55-square-mile region west and south of Lafayette and Superior and includes a population of 28,000. The district has 45 full-time employees and an operating budget of $9.6 million.

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